St. Clair County 4-H Horse Leaders

News

The St. Clair County 4-H Horse Judging and Hippology Teams recently
competed in their state-wide contests at Michigan State University.
They represented our county well at the Equine Educational Expo held
April 18th, and had a great time in the process (especially during a
trip to the MSU Dairy Store for fresh ice cream between the contests
and awards ceremony).

The hippology team, coached by Heather Mudge, consisted of Felishia
Block, Taryn Frey, and Rachel Remy. All three competed in the Senior
Regular Division, placing well as individuals and winning the
contest as a team! Felishia placed 3rd in the state on the written
exam, 6th in the slide phase, 4th in stations, 1st in judging, and
2nd overall. Taryn placed 8th in the exam phase, 7th in slides, 7th
in stations, 6th in judging, and 6th overall. Rachel placed 5th in
the exam phase, 10th in slides, 5th in stations, 3rd in judging, and
3rd overall. Felishia, Taryn, and Rachel also posted the highest
combined score on the two team problems, one of which they were
allowed to briefly prepare for, the other of which required a
spontaneous answer. As the state champions in the Senior Regular
Division, they will be offered the opportunity to go on to compete
at a national contest this fall.

The judging team, coached by Lucy Brown, consisted of Carrie Brown,
Samanthia Enright, Hailey Moses, Jaelyn Sutphin, and Sharon Torello.
Carrie, Hailey, and Sharon competed as a Junior Regular Team,
winning their division in both reasons and the overall score, and
placing well individually. Carrie placed 4th in reasons and 2nd
overall. Sharon placed 2nd in reasons and 3rd overall. Hailey placed
3rd in reasons and 1st overall. As the overall winner of the Junior
Regular Division, Hailey's name will be placed on the Norma Agnew
Memorial 4-H Horse Judging Award plaque displayed at MSU. Samanthia
and Jaelyn competed as individuals in the Junior Novice Division,
since three to four competitors are required to make a "team" in
each division. Jaelyn finished 7th in reasons and 2nd overall.
Samanthia also scored very well but finished just out of the
ribbons, after several tiebreakers within the division.

The St. Clair County competitors practiced the first Monday of every
month from October to April along with other horse winter projects
participants. They also attended live judging clinics hosted by
Kathy Williams, Sue Cook, and Amy Balon and would like to thank
these leaders for assisting with their learning. The competition
teams would also like to thank the 4-H Horse Leaders board for
sponsoring their state contest entry fees and t-shirts.

Winter projects meetings will resume on the first Monday of October,
at the Goodells County Park Community Building. Any interested
4-Hers are welcome to attend, whether they would like to compete in
Hippology, Horse Bowl, Horse Judging, or Equine Communications, or
simply increase their horse knowledge and have a great time with new
friends! Please contact any of the following leaders for more
information.